#fatally-procrastinating

“Then close them more.” He clamped his eyes tighter until his entire face scrunched. “I can’t close them more than this unless ya want me to overlap my eyelids.” She chuckled softly. “Maybe later.” The couch shifted beneath him when she sat down. He leaned towards her, breathing in the heavenly scent of warm popcorn when something light and solid dropped onto his legs. “You can look now.” Johnny grinned as he tore into the red wrapping paper. It shredded beneath his fingers, sliding off the DVD cover of A New Hope. His excitement stilled to a stop in his chest. He blinked. Scuffs marked the edges where he’d first opened it only to drop the case in his rush. A crack cut a jagged line across the back from when his apartment had been raided by a Rougarou. Narrowing his eyes at the gift, he opened the case. Two disks inside. No secretly hidden tickets to anything. No gold lining. “It’s… my own copy.” “That’s right.” “Did ya take this out of my room?” “I did.” He turned to her. Hope sat cross-legged with a bowl of popcorn in her lap that was almost larger than she was. “I don’t understand. Did you do somethin’ to it?” “No.” She used her thumb to flick a piece of popcorn into the air before catching it perfectly between her teeth. A tiny smile eased into the corners of her eyes though it didn’t touch her lips. “You should put it in. The others will be here soon.” “Others?” He popped the disk out of the case and set it into the waiting player. “Doom and Gloom,” she said. “Doom and—?” His shoes squeaked when he spun to look at her. “You convinced Michael to watch Star Wars? Really?” She grinned and crunched down on another kernel. “How? I’ve been trying to bribe him into it for months.” He plopped down onto the couch beside her, reaching for the popcorn. She held it out of his reach. Even when he pouted with the excuse But it’s my birthday, she only relented to give him a single piece. “I told him it was one of Sonya’s favorite movies.” “… That’s it?” Hope patted his hand, her smile growing. “There may be a bit more behind it. But that’s all you need to know. For now.” He chuckled under his breath and slung his arm across her shoulders—where he absolutely did not take advantage of their positions to steal a huge handful of popcorn. Kissing her cheek when she nudged him in the side, he whispered, “Te amo.” She relaxed against him—though her guard over the popcorn only increased when Sonya and Michael trailed into the room—and tucked her head on his shoulder. She waited until they were situated on Johnny’s other side before kissing his cheek with a whispered, “I know.”